Multiple wire cutter and stripper



March 22, 1960 H. w. HAGSTRAND 2,929,284

MULTIPLE WIRE CUTTER AND STRIPPER Filed April 30, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1IN V EN TOR.

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March 22, 1960 H. W. HAGSTRAND MULTIPLE WIRE CUTTER AND STRIPPER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 30, 1956 IN V EN TOR. 5%. w

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United States Patent 6 MULTIPLE WEE CUTTER AND STRIPPER Helge W.Hagstrand, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Artos Engineering Company,Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application April 30, 1956,Serial No. 581,517

4 Claims. (Cl. 819.51)

This invention relates in general to improvements in the art ofproducing electric current conductors, and relates more particularly toimprovements in the construction and operation of machines forsimultaneously severing several insulation covered wires intopredetermined lengths and for stripping the insulation from one or bothends of each wire length. x

The primary object of my invention is to provide mechanism forautomatically producing a succession of end stripped insulated wireswith utmost rapidity and precision.

It has heretofore been common practice in the electrical industry toutilize various types of mechanisms in order to sever a singleinsulation covered wire into successive predetermined lengths and toremove the insulation from one or both ends of each severed length sothat the bared ends of the wires could be effectively attached tobinding posts or terminals. The insulation is ordinarily removed fromthe wire ends by stripping, and while some of these prior cutting andstripping machines were operable at relatively high speed, the priormechanisms were all of limited capacity and could not meet thetremendous demand for such end stripped conductors except by providinglarge numbers of the individual machines. This multiplication of unitsnot only increased the cost of equipment required, but also enhanced thenormal power consumption and operating cost since each mechanismrequired an independent drive and an attendant for insuring properoperation thereof.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to providean improved insulated wire cutter and stripper operable at high speed toautomatically sever wire stock withdrawn from several independentsources of supply into predetermined successive lengths and tosimultaneously strip' the insulation from one or both ends of each setof simultaneously severed wires.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a unit forproducing electric current conductors with utmost precision and in rapidsuccession at minimum cost of equipment installation, power consumption,and attendant services.

A further important object of the invention is to provide relativelyslight and inexpensive modifications which may be readily applied to anordinary insulated'wire cutting and stripping mechanism of the typeshown in United States Patent No. 2,680,394, granted June 8, 1954, tovastly enhance the capacity of such machines.

Still another important-object of my invention is to provide a simple,durable and compact unit of maximum dependability and capacity forconverting several independent strands of insulated wire stock intosuccessive" end stripped electrical conductors automatically and withminimum attention and power consumption.

These and other more specific objects and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of the features constituting the present improvement,and of the construction and opera- "ice tion of a typical multiple wirecutter and stripper embodying the invention, may be had by referring tothe drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specifica tionwherein like'reference characters designate the same or similar parts inthe various views.

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view of the insulated wire stockfeeding, cutting and stripping mechanisms of a commercial machine builtin accordance with the in-. vention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a cooperating set of the improvedinsulation cuttingand stripping blades utilized in the improved machine;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the wire stock feeding, cutting and strippingmechanisms, drawn, to reduced scale;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of ,the single wire feedingand stripping clamp assemblagealso utilized in the improved machine; and

Fig. 5 is a similarly enlarged side view of the cooperating wire guidingand holding fingers utilized near the; cutting and stripping zone of theimproved unit.

While the invention has been illustrated and described herein as beingembodied in a multiple wire cutting and stripping machine adapted tosimultaneously sever and end strip only two wires, it is not intended torestrict the use of the improved features to such a unit; and it is alsocontemplated that specific descriptive terms employed.

erein be given the broadest possible interpretation con sistent with theactual disclosure.

Referring to the drawings, the typical commercial multiple insulatedwire cutter and stripper shown, comprises in general, an elongated mainframe .7 having an elongated horizontal beam 8 fixedly attached thereto;a like.- wise elongated horizontal square shaft 9 journalled in endbearings 11 11 carried by the frame 7 and being located forwardly of thebeam 8; a single wire clamp assemblage 12 having a main frame providedwith, a rearguide 13 slidable along the fixed beam 8 and a collar 14rotatable within the frame and slidable along the shaft 9 and which isalso operable by oscillation of this shaft to open and close a pair ofwire clamping jaws 15 forming a part of the assemblage 12; a pair oflaterally spaced sets of insulation severing and stripping blades 16, 17and a single intervening set of wire severing knives 18 carried by atool holder 19 mounted upon the frame 7; several independent wire stocksupply sheaves 20 cooperating with non-return wire guiding segments 21and with guide rollers 22, pins 23 and fingers 24, 25 to properlyconduct several wires 26 from suitable independent sources to andthrough the cutting and stripping zone; mechanism 27 forperiodicallyoscillating the square shaft 9; other mechanism 28 for moving the clampassemblage. 12 along the shaft 9; still other mechanism 29 mounted uponthe tool holder 19 for actuating the blades 16, 17 and knives 18;. and areceiving trough 30 for the final. severed and end stripped conductors.

The main frame 7 may be of any suitable construction and the guide beam8 has rectangular cross-section and is detachably secured to the frameby screws and by the bearings 10, 11 for the square shaft 9 as indicatedin Figures 1 and 3. portions oscillatable within the bearings 10, 11 andthe mechanism 27 for producing such periodic oscillation is located nearthe bearing 10 and includes a crank 32 and a rod 33 reciprocable byanother crank 34 secured.

to an upright shaft 35. The mechanism 28 for moving the clamp assemblage12 longitudinally of the square I shaft 9 in timed relation to theoscillation of this shaft" 36; and both of the mechanisms 27, 28 are ofrelatively well known construction and are operable by an electric Thesquare shaft 9 has cylindrical end V 37 motor housed within the frame 7and enacting with motion transmitting gearing confined within a casing38 disposed rearwardly of the beam 8, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3,. V w

The wire clamp assemblage 12 as shown in detail in Batent- No.2,680,394, has its Wire engaging jaws which are mounted on pivots 40supported by the same frame which carries the collar 14, formed as bellcranks having outwardly extending arms 41 pivotally connected by links.42. with pivots'also mounted on the frame, and which are oscillatablyconnected with the collar 14 of the assemblage, and these bell cranksalso have downwardly projecting arms icarrying special pivotallysuspended wire engaging plates 43 provided with flat surfaces forsimultaneously gripping several parallel intervening wires 26 asillustrated in Fig. 4. The two jaws 15 are swing'able toward' each otherto grip the wire and away from'eachother to elevate the jaws above thetool holder wh'enever the'shaft'9 is oscillated in opposite directionsabout its axis, by means of intermeshing gear as ent segments 44 whichare also attached to the pivots'40, I

and the pivotal mounting of the gripping plates 43 enables them tofirmly clamp more than one interveningwir 26" even if the diametersthereof vary slightly.

"The. tool holder 19 which carries the insulation cutting and: strippingblades 16, 17 and the wire severing knives 18. is also of relativelywell known construction,

and the blades 16, 17 are adjustable relative to the knives 18 to varythe stripping lengths. The opposed blades 16, 17 and knives 18arefirrnly but detachably secured to oppositely reciprocable carriers 46mounted on racks 47 operable by an intervening pinion 48 asshownin-Figsi 1 and 3, and these racks and pintions constitute a part ofthe cutting and stripping mechanism 29 which is adapted to also beactuated in timed relation to the movements of the clamp assemblage 12by gearing confined within the casing 3 8, in a well known manner; The'reciprocable racks 47 may be caused to cooperate with automaticcounters 49, 50' in order to indicate the number of conductors whichhave been produced.

In order to cause the cutting and stripping blades 16, 17 to 'properlycooperate with several wires 26, each or tliese blades is especiallyconstructed as shown in Fig," 2, with laterallyspaced pairs ofcooperating insulation. cutting notches 52, 53 and with the wireguiding-"and' separating tongues 54, 55 respectively. Each oftlisenotches 52, 53 is provided with a semicircular cutting edge adaptedto sever the insulation only without cutting into the body of anintervening wire, and the wire severing knives 18 which are locatedbetween the two sets of blades 16, 17 have cooperating cutting edgeswhich are wider than the space between the tongues 54 so thatthey willcut through both the insulation and the wire body at, the point ofseverance of the successive wire lengths. When the blades 16, 17 arebrought together the tongues 54, 55 of the two blades overlap theadjacent blades so as to confine the cutting edges of all of the notches52, 53 to a common plane.

In order to properly introduce, guide and position several wires 26within the unit, it is necessary to provide the same number ofcooperating sheaves 20 for withdrawing insulated wires 26 from a likenumber of independent sources of supply, and to also provide forsubsequent maintenance of the wire stock in parallelism. Each of thefinal delivery sheaves 20 is journalled upon the main frame 7 and has anon-return wire guiding seg-z ment 21 associated therewith so as to;prevent the wires, 26 which have passed the adjacent segments fromreturning to the supply source. The upright guide rollers 22 locatedbeyond the sheaves 20 and segments 21 arrange the entering wire stock ina vertical plane, and the horizontal pins 23 disposed beyond the rollers22 are ad justableso as to properly space the several wires 26 apartvertically, Both the set of rollers 22 and the pins 23 are also mountedupon the main frame 7 and perform their guiding and spacing functionsautomatically when properly adjusted, as the wires 26 are withdrawntherebetween by the clamp assemblage 12.

The auxiliary wire guiding fingers 24, 25 which are carried by the toolholder directly in advance of the cutting and stripping zone, functionprimarily to support the wires 26 when feeding and cutting long lengthsgreater than the stroke of the clamp 12. As shown in Fig. 5, theselingers 24, 25 are interconnected and operated by gears 57 secured tothe finger supporting pivots 58 and are normally urged toward each otherso that the two fingers will tend to, close when not positivelyretained, but they are adapted to be periodically spread apart by aconnection 59 attached to a pin 60 at the lower extremity of the longerfinger whenever wires are being longitudinally advanced therebetween.The upper end of thefinger 24 is provided with a series of flat wireengagingyelements 61 cooperable with serrations 62 forming notchescorresponding to the number of wires 26 being, cut andstripped on theother finger 25 to maintain the. several; wires-properly spaced apartwhile being cut and stripped, but the fingers 24, 25 do not positivelyclamp the wires; 2.6, and are periodically spread apart to permit theclamp-1210 pass therebetween when feeding successive, sectionsof longwire lengths.

When the improved insulated wire cutter and stripper has been properlyconstructed, assembled and adjusted to produce endstripped conductors ofthe desired length, the normal operation of the unit is as follows.After each simultaneous cutting operation of the blades 16, 17

and knife 18, the feed clamp assembly 12 with its gripping jaws15 inclamping engagement with the severed' wires 26. beyond the cutting andstripping zone, is moved toward the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3 tocause the right hand set of stripping blades 16, 17 to strip theinsulation from the trailing ends of the previously severed wires 26.While the severed leading ends or, the wire' stock aregstill being heldby the fingers 24, 25 and by the other set of stripping blades 16, 17,the jaws 15 of the clamp assembly 12 will separate so as to deposit thefinal end stripped conductor into the trough 30'," whereupon the clampassembly 12 with the jaws 15' still separated and in elevated conditionis moved toward the left past and above the cutting zone and the jaws 15are brought down and into gripping engagement with the wire stock"between the fingers 24, 25 and the guide pins 23:

T'The clamp assembly 12 will then move a slight distance farther towardthe left to cause the left hand set of blades 16, 17 to strip thesevered insulation from the, leading' en d of the wire stock, whereuponthe blades 16', 17 and knives 18 and the fingers 24, 25 will separate topermit the clamp assembly 12 withits jaws 15 closedf'to move toward theright through the cutting zone 7 and to thereby withdraw new length ofwire stock from thesources of supply. When the clamp assembly 12 hasthus. advanced'toward the right 'a' predetermined distance itwill stopand the knife 18 will then function to sever another predeterminedlength of wire 26 from the stock while thefblades 16, 17 willsimultaneously cut through" the insulation only at definitedistances onopposite sides;

of the point of wire severance.

Thiscycle of operations will beautomatically repeat-- ed4untili; thedesired. number of completed end stripped conductors have been producedwhereupon the machine maybe stopped automatically by pre-setting thecounters 49, 50 to cause such. stoppage, or by manual operation of;astop-switch suclias shown vat the left of Fig. 1. As

showm. twozfinishedand identical endstripped conduc tors are producedduring each cycle of operations, but the unit may obviouslybe readilymodified to produce moreat an two'conductorssimultaneously, thusinsuring '33 maximum capacity with minimum power consumption and at highrate of speed.

- The multiple sheaves 20, improved guide rollers 22 and pins 23, andthe improved holding fingers 24, effectively introduce and guide theincoming wire stock for proper cooperation with the dual strippingblades 16, 17 and the length of the successive conductors can be readilyvaried by correspondingly changing the stroke of the single clampassembly 12 with the aid of the mecha-,

nism associated with the lever 36. The multiple cutting and strippingunit is practically as simple and compact as a similar prior mechanismadapted to produce only single successive conductors during eachcomplete operating cycle, and the improved unit is operable at the samespeed as such prior mechanisms but has vastly greater capacity. Theinvention has gone into highly satisfactory and successful commercialuse, and the improved machines are capable of operating on insulatedwires of various diameters to produce conductors for diverse uses.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this inventionto the exact details of construction or to the precise mode of operationof the wire cutting and stripping mechanism herein shown and described,for various modifications within the scope of the appended claims mayoccur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A multiple wire cutter comprising, a frame, a tool holder carried bysaid frame, cooperating wire severing knives mounted upon said holderand being movable to simultaneously sever several wire lengths fromstock fed past the knives, several independent sources of wire stocksupply associated with said frame remote from said tool holder, a feedclamp having cooperating self-adjusting pivotally suspended wiregripping plates for simultaneously withdrawing predetermined equallengths of wire stock from all of said sources and for advancing thewires longitudinally past said knives, a pair of rollers cooperable withthe advancing wire stocks near said sources to cause the wires to travellongitudinally in a common plane, spaced parallel pin elements 'coactingwith the advancing wire stocks between said rollers and said knives tocause the wires to travel in parallel spaced relation toward the knives,and a pair of wire guiding members pivotally mounted upon said toolholder and being frictionally cooperable with the advancing wire stocksbetween said pin elements and said knives and cooperating with theknives to produce similarly spaced and parallel travel of the wiresclosely adjacent to and past the knives.

2. A multiple wire cutter and stripper comprising, a frame, a toolholder carried by said frame, cooperating sets of wire severing andinsulation stripping blades mounted upon said holder and being movableto simultaneously sever and to subsequently end strip insulation fromseveral wire lengths severed from insulated wire stock being fed pastthe knives, several independent sources of insulated wire stock supplyassociated with said frame remote from said tool holder, a wire clamphaving self-adjusting wire gripping plates for simultaneouslywithdrawing predetermined equal lengths of wire stock from all of saidsources and for advancing the wires longitudinally past said knives, apair of rollers cooperable with the advancing wire stock near saidsources to cause the wires to travel longitudinally in a common plane,spaced parallel pins coacting with the horizontally advancing wire stockbetween said rollers and said knives to cause the, wires to travel inparallel spaced relation toward the knives, and a pair of wire guidingfingers carried by said tool holder and being frictionally cooperablewith the horizontally advancing wire stock between said pins and saidknives and cooperable with each other to effect similarly spaced andparallel travel of the wires closely adjacent to the knives.

3. A multiple wire cutter comprising, a frame, a tool holder carried bysaid frame, cooperating wire severing knives mounted upon said holderand being movable to simultaneously sever'severalwire lengths from stockfed past the knives, several independent sources of wire stock supplyassociated with said frame remote from said tool holder, a feed clamphaving cooperating self-adjusting P wire gripping plates forsimultaneously withdrawing predetermined eqnal lengths of wire stockfrom allot said sources and for advancing the wires longitudinally pastsaid knives, guiding means cooperable with the advancing wire stocksnear said sources to cause the wires to travel longitudinally in acommon plane, a guide element coacting with the advancing wire stocksbetween said guiding means and said knives to cause the wires to travelin parallel spaced relation toward the knives, and a pair of wireguiding members pivotally mounted upon said tool holder and beingfrictionally cooperable with the advancing wire stocks between saidelement and said knives and cooperating with the knives to producesimilarly spaced and-parallel travel of the wires closely adjacent toand past the knives.

4. A multiple wire cutter and stripper comprising, a frame, a toolholder carried by said frame, cooperating sets of wire severing andinsulating stripping blades mounted upon said holder and being movableto simultaneously sever and to subsequently end strip insulation fromseveral wire lengths severed from insulated wire stock being fed pastthe knives, several independent sources of insulated wire stock supplyassociated with said frame remote from said tool holder, a wire clamphaving self-adjusting wire gripping plates for simultaneouslywithdrawing predetermined equal lengths of wire stock from all of saidsources and for advancing the wires longitudinally past said knives,guiding means cooperable with the advancing wire stock near said sourcesto cause the wires to travel longitudinally in a common plane, a guideelement coacting with the horizontally advancing wire stock between saidguiding means and said knives to cause the wires to travel in parallelspaced relation toward the knives, and wire guiding members carried bysaid tool holder and being frictionally cooperable with the horizontallyadvancing wire stock between said element and said knives and cooperablewith each other to effect similarly spaced and parallel travel of thewires closely adjacent to the knives.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,052,271 Pessin Feb. 4, 1913 1,509,044 Kuchmuk Sept. 16, 1924 1,835,801Mayhew Dec. 8, 1931 1,936,559 Williams Nov. 21, 1933 2,485,518 VermetteOct. 18, 1949 2,571,078 Vollmer Oct. 9, 1951 2,571,338 Calabrese Oct.16, 1951 2,680,394 Andren June 8, 1954 2,774,130 Folkenroth Dec. 18,1956 2,844,056 Sladek July 22, 1958

